That Summer
by As blue as the moon
Summary: When you think of summer a range of things may enter your mind: the beating sun, a backyard barbecue, sandy flip-flops...a summer love. And that's how it started; fun, light-hearted, care free. But a summer is only a season, and seasons end. *now edited & with regular updates*
1. I Met Him

**Hey there! It has been quite a while, but I'm hoping my absence has made your hearts grow fonder.  
****It has certainly been that way for me, because since rediscovering my love for this story I have spent almost all of  
****my in-abundant free time writing it (and even some of my un-free time. this is way better than homework)****  
**

**Returning Reviewers: So far as I understand, you cannot review a chapter twice even if it  
has been replaced, so no worries about reviews. However, if you could please let me know via  
PM after reading all the replaced chapters how you liked/did not like it. **

**New Readers: Welcome! I understand most of my pre-chapter authors notes won't make sense to you all.  
Don't worry about it!  
Please let me know what you think, or what you didn't understand. I reply to almost every review I get. (:**

**Hope you all enjoy! **

* * *

**Bella **

I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Every seemingly insignificant moment of every seemingly insignificant day of your life matters. Obviously, in the grand scheme of things, those two minutes you were late to Mrs. Gergans' science class one time in sixth grade may end up mattering less than, say, that 7-11 gas station you decided to drive into instead of the BP station you drove past two blocks earlier. Even still, maybe if I hadn't been late I would suck less at biology. And, maybe if I had stopped at BP I never would've met Edward... Maybe I would've met some boycotter thrusting a hand-painted sign up about how bad BP sucks for polluting the Gulf Coast and saving the whales or whatever and been really inspired and became some sort of Environmentalist and majored in ecology in school instead of... Wait. No. I suck at science, that couldn't have worked out. See? Being late to Mrs. Gergans' class did matter! I digress.

It was the summer before my senior year. Emmett and I had taken turns driving eight hundred some miles to get from our home in Arizona to the beach house our family was renting in Orange Country California. Our adopted baby brother and sister, Jema and Jackson, cooed and drooled and slept and did whatever else babies do while strapped into car seats in the back of a truck. Honestly, they were something of a nuisance on the trip. Neither of them were very colicky, but they required frequent feedings, and constantly filling something with liquid that has a bladder the size of a pea, well... We definitely realized how they go through diapers so quick. Eventually, we stopped pulling over to change them. Those thirty odd diapers we threw out the window would also help chalk up the 'Why Bella Swan Is Not An Environmentalist' list.

For once, the bladder problem was not had by Jema or Jackson, I realized as Emmett hopped out the car and sprinted into the gas station before I had even put the car in park. I giggled and unbuckled my seat belt, shifting myself over the center counsel and into the passenger seat. We switched off driving every fifty miles or so and I figured it was about time. I kicked my bare feet up on the dash and unhooked Emmett's ipod from the car adapter cord thing and plugged in my own. Passenger is on DJ duty. We unanimously decided this was the new rule after Emmett almost merged into an eighteen-wheeler while trying to find some Red Hot Chile Peppers song on his playlist. They were one of my favorite bands, but finding Hump De Bump wasn't worth being turned into a pancake.

I scrolled through my song list for a moment before deciding I had no clue what I was in the mood for and hit shuffle, then tossed it into the cup holder. I leaned over and turned the ignition off, but didn't pull the keys out so the music would keep playing. Recognizing the song as The Shins' cover of We Will Become Silhouettes, I twisted up the volume, then kicked my feet out of the open window and slid out smoothly onto the concrete. This was the only way past the unfortunate open-the-door-and-the-music-turns-off affliction that affects every car, and I'm not too keen on doing much of anything without music playing, even for a few minutes. Presently, I realized I didn't have shoes on and rolled my eyes. I suppose crazy chick pumping gas bare foot with her music on too loud is a label I can deal with.

I sung quietly along and attempted to restrain myself from doing much else besides swaying with the music. I try to be semi-socially acceptable. I looked up from the monotony of pumping gas after sticking the nozzle in the tank and found that I'd caught the eye of some guy.

"God, please, don't let me interrupt," he said, and I reddened slightly at the attention.

"Don't people usually get paid for street-preforming?" I quirked an eyebrow, and folded my arms, leaning up against the car door and crossing my legs at the ankles.

"If I'm not mistaken, we're not on a street," he countered.

"I suppose I'll have to find a different profession then, huh?" I replied, shooting my eyebrows up playfully. He grinned at me.

"Who's cover is this? I know the original is by The Postal Service." Alright, excuse me while I go squeal like a twelve year old girl at the prospect that this hot guy recognizes the lyrics of obscure bands by their completely opposite covers.

"The Shins,"

"It's damn good."

"I know." He grins at me again, and sweet Jesus, I'm completely stricken by how outwardly attractive he is. He's got these alluring, bright-bright green eyes and expressive eyebrows, a mouth sculpted into a perfectly crooked smirk and a strong jawline. His head is covered in lush curls and waves of burnished amber colored hair. His build is athletic and strong, shoulders not excessively broad, and he could easily measure over six foot. My right hand finds my mouth and my index and middle finger run sideways over my bottom lip. A sort of nervous habit I've picked up. I'm surprised I find no drool at the corner of my mouth.

"I'm Edward, by the way," he walks over to me, away from his car. I really hope I have no mascara smeared under my eyelids.

"Bella," he extends his arm, smiles at me.

"Man, Bell. I had to piss like a pregnant woman on a mechanical bull." And, moment ruined. Edward drops his hand.

"Who's this?"

"Uh..." I pushed myself up from where I leaned on the truck, "Em, this Edward. Edward, this is my twin brother Emmett."

"You're twins?" he asks incredulously, eyeing the way Emmett towered over me, and stood with shoulders nearly twice as wide.

"Ye-" I start to answer, but Emmett interrupts and pushes me behind him.

"Yeah. I'm Bella's older brother."

I scoff, "Yes, 'twins' sort of implied the family relation, thank you Emmett. And, you're only older by four and a half minutes,"

He huffs. "Do want anything? I'm buying,"

"Chocolate covered pretzels?"

"You got it!" he agreed.

"Thanks! You're my favorite older brother!" I shouted after him.

"So, that's Emmett..." I turned back to Edward.

"Is he your only concerningly large sibling, or are there others I should worry about?"

"Well, technically yes."

He quirked an eyebrow, "Technically yes?"

"I have seven other siblings ... strength in numbers, you know?" I joked.

"You're fucking with me, right?" I shook my head.

"Jesus, well, they're not all in the gas station, are they?" I laughed and shook my head again.

"No, Jema and Jackson are in the car seats in the back and Mom, Kira, Noah, Lacy, Lorraine, Braxton, and their friends Charlotte and Ty took a plane over... I didn't want to leave my baby," I said, patting my truck. Edward was still wide-eyed and attempting to process the irregularly large-ness of my family.

"Anyway... what about you? Any siblings?" I asked as I put the gas nozzle back in its holder.

"Just Rose and Alice," I nodded.

"Y'all live around here?" I asked him.

"Sorta. I'm down a-ways at Maralyanas Beach."

"Your kidding? That's where my family and I are renting our beach house," I grinned. Edward glanced back at the gas station shop, then back to me, and again before deciding to speak again.

"Alright... I don't want your brother to punch me in the face, but" I giggled, "-I'm serious!" he protested my laughter.

He pulled a pen out of his pocket and grasped my hand, then scrawled ten digits across my palm. "This is my number. Text me if you want someone to show you around town?" he grinned.

"Bella! Get in the car, we're leaving!" Emmett bellowed as he walked out towards us with a plastic bag in hand.

"YES DAD!" I yelled back at him. "I'll use this," I said to Edward, waving at him with my marked hand. He winked, "Looking forward to it."


	2. He Caught Me

I sighed contently as I flipped over onto my back and the beating sun instantly warmed my abdomen. I was wearing a strapless blue and white nautical bikini with a little yellow bow in the middle of my chest and thicker yellow straps across my hips. It was a perfect tanning bikini because, besides where your underwear goes, there's no unnecessary tan lines. I pulled my blue mirror lens Aviators down over my eyes, then looked over at Kira, who sat next to me playing with a strand of my hair.

"I'm thinking of an animal that has four legs," she said. We were playing our version of twenty questions.

"That was some hint, there, kid," I said, pushing my sunglasses down my nose and glared at her with mock contempt.

"You're welcome. Now guess." she demanded, not looking at me as she braided a strand of my hair.

"Alright-y then, sassy," she giggled, "is it a horse?"

"Uh-uh" she shook her head.

"Uh huh!" I protested lightheartedly.

"You're silly," she rolled her pretty eyes at me, and when I reached out and honked her nose, I heard a voice.

"What are we playing?" I pushed my sunglasses up on my head.

"Edward!" I squealed, pushing myself up off our multicolored beach towel and launching myself at him, wrapping my arms tight around his neck and pressing my chest against his. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me, his hands against my bare torso sending shivers down my spine.

"Hey," he chortled.

"Hi," I smiled into his skin.

"Miss me?" he teased, but I nodded my head. We had texted nearly all day yesterday, and didn't stop till nearly four in the morning. Since the good morning text he sent me at nine, we hadn't talked somewhere in the range of five hours, which is the longest period of time we've been out of contact since we met.

"Are you gonna hug me like this every time I see you?"

"Why, you don't want me to?" loosening my grip around him.

"Hell mother-fucking no!" he protested in a whisper-yell so the kids couldn't hear, and pulled me back to him. I'd discovered via text conversations that Edward cursed like a sailor. His personal favorite was the word fuck, which he would try to squeeze in every two sentences or so. I didn't have a problem with cursing, but with constantly having kids around me, I'd never gotten in the habit. That, and my mother was intensely Christian. I hadn't really taken to Christianity, nonetheless any religion, but I came to church with her on holidays and attempted to monitor my speech around her. Long story short, I didn't curse.

"Language," I giggled softly.

"Sorry, babe," he said, sounding legitimately apologetic, and rubbed his thumbs over the dimples in my lower back. Despite myself, and the heat, goosebumps broke out over my skin.

"Bella?" Kira's sweet voice said softly.

"Whoops! Sorry. Kir, this is my friend Edward. Edward, this is my eight year old sister Kira. The little boy playing in sand over there is my baby brother Noah-" Noah interrupted my introductions by raising two handfuls of hand into the air and shouting, "ME!"

I laughed, "Yeah, buddy, Noah is your name." He grinned cheekily at us then started to the process of destroying and rebuilding his sandcastles again.

"The two in the little baby chairs are Jackson and Jema," I finished.

My cell phone rang on the towel and I leaned over to answer it, holding up a finger to Edward.

"Hello?"

"BELLY GIRL!"

"Angie! How are you, my love?"

"Hot. Our air conditioner broke,"

"Again?"

"Yup."

"Your life sucks."

"That it does, that it does. And to think that if my parents weren't assholes who demanded that I stay and look after my demented little brother while they went to North Carolina I'd be in California sun bathing with you right now. My life is simply tragic without you here, you must come back,"

"As tempting as that is..."

"Oh shut up,"

I looked towards our beach towel from where I paced in the sand, something I did frequently when I talked on the phone. Pace, I mean. Edward was crouched near Kira, talking to her softly. I tuned into their conversation now, crinkling my eyebrows together as I concentrated on hearing what they said.

"What's your favorite sport?" Edward asked.

"Dance," Kira answered.

"Like your sister," I grinned cause he remembered. "What type do you do?"

"My favorite is ballet,"

"BELLA!" I heard Angie scream into the receiver.

"WHAT?" I asked, walking further away from our beach towel.

"I didn't actually mean shut up, you know,"

"Yeah, yeah... I was distracted,"

"Oooh, cute boy on the beach? Details, details!"

"Angie, remember Ben? Your boyfriend?"

"Bella, I'm dating, not dying. I can still appreciate hot guys. Especially one hot enough to distract you when talking to your best friend. What's gotten into you? I've tried to set you up with TONS of guys here,"

"Nothing Ang. There's no guy..."

"Oh. My. God. YOU ARE SUCH A LIAR! Tell me, or I'm calling your mom!"

"And telling her what exactly?"

"I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER!" she deadpanned. I threw my head back and laughed, plopping myself down on the sand a bit away from everyone on the beach, but with Edward, Kira, and the rest of the kiddos still in view.

"God, I remember that movie. I haven't seen it in forever! When I come back we have to watch it together,"

"Oh, that's real nice, Bella,"

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Try to change the topic with promises of summer plans. I may be bored to tears, but I'm not stupid,"

"Oh, darn," I rolled my eyes.

"Isabella Marie, I swear on Maggie's grave-"

"Maggie your dead hamster that we buried in your backyard in the fourth grade? Wow Ang, real ascetic,"

"Neither of us are religious and I don't have any dead relatives, work with me here!"

"Jesus Christ. SPILL. NOW."

"FINE! I met this guy at a 7-11 on the way here and... I dunno. We just clicked. We've been texting nonstop. I constantly have butterflies in my stomach... Ang," I laid back in the sand and threw my free hand above my head.

"Aw! My baby has a crush! Oh my god! When was the last time... God damn. You haven't crushed on someone since Mike Newton for that one week in seventh grade,"

"You act like I'm some virginal little girl!"

"Uh, babe, YOU'RE A VIRGIN,"

I groaned, "Ughh! But Edward-"

"Oh! His name is Edward? That's so... Regency romance novel-y. Oh my god. No _wonder _you love him,"

"Oh, my God. Ang. I do not _love _him. I just... like. UGH. I just wanna make out with him! Like, a lot. And, he's a guy. That shouldn't be a problem. Okay? And, guess where he is right now? Over by my beach towel freaking talking to Kira. Kira is _talking _to him. She hasn't talked to a guy over ten except Emmett, Braxton, Ty, or Ben since we adopted her! And they're over there right now just chatting away. Jesus Christ... and he's so sexy. I don't say that. You know I don't. But, Lord help me if he isn't sexy. And hilarious. You know when you text 'lol' but you didn't even laugh, it's just a filler cause you don't know what else to say? Yeah, nope. Not with him. We texted all yesterday, and I swear, I have abs now," I looked down at my stomach then my eyes caught a figure in my peripheral. I glanced up, and my entire body clenched, a gasp leaving my mouth.

"Bell?"

"Ang, I'm gonna have to call you back," I said, still staring at Edward's part amused part smug part completely effervescently _gleeful _expression.

"Oh my God, Bell, tell me he did not just hear all of that."

"Bingo."

"Holy fucking shit tits."

"Uh huh."

"I love you?"

"Yeah, you too."

"Bye, Bell," I hung up and dropped my phone to the sand and fell onto my back, throwing my arms over my heated face.

"You heard how much of that?" I asked quietly.

"Honest answer?"

"Hmm, yeah."

"From your surprise that I talked to Kira on," Outwardly I relaxed a little. He hadn't heard my embarrassing 'I just want to make out with him' speech.

"Would you believe me if I said I wasn't talking about you?" I asked, sitting up. He plopped down next to me, his shoulder brushing mine.

"But I fit all the criteria so well! Sexy, hilarious," he ticked off his fingers, and I scoffed and pushed his shoulder.

"Bigheaded, ease-dropping," I added. He looked at me with eyes full of inconcealable delight, but an expression of mock anguish. He bumped my shoulder back, and I laughed and pushed him harder, down completely into the sand, then sprung up onto my feet and bounded away from him. He was up after me just as fast, and I squealed as he caught me around the waist and pulled me to the ground with him.

"I have a crush on you too, Bella Swan," he said, laying in the sand with his arm still securing me to him. He leaned forward and kissed the tip of my nose, then released one of his arms and placed it behind his head, leaving the other sprawled across my back.

I smiled and rested my head on his chest as his fingers stroked patterns into my skin and listened as the sound of the waves lapping and kids playing and people talking faded away till it was just the sound of Edward's heart beating in his chest.


	3. He Picked Me Up

"I thought there was a parade coming down the block and I had missed the memo, then I realized it was just you guys," Edward said, half-jogging up to me from across the street.

"Hardy har. You know, one day I'm going to get sick of you teasing me and I'm gonna stop talking to you," I said as he threw his arm across my shoulders and pulled me into him.

"Nah, you'd miss me too much," he disagreed, pressing a kiss into the side of my head. Since we'd met Edward had pretty much kissed me in every potentially platonic way you could possibly kiss a person. My cheek, my forehead, my nose, the top of my head, my hand... My shoulder was pushing the platonic boundary a bit, but with Edward, none if it felt particularly austere anyhow.

"Now where's my other favorite girl?" Edward asked. Kira dropped my hand and skipped in front of us a few steps, then stopped, exclaiming "Here I am!"

"There she is!" Edward said with the same decibel of excitement, and grabbed her under the arms, lifting her easily into the air and onto his shoulders. Kira is a very slight girl, more the size of a big five year old than an eight year old girl. The doctors said it could be due to a couple of things. For one, just plain genetics. Her biological mother only reached five feet fully grown. Kira was also born premature, so at birth she weighed just four pounds. In the years after her birth and before her adoption she was also under-nurtured and was diagnosed with Psychosocial short stature which is caused by emotional deprivation and stress. Simply put, Kira only weighs forty-two pounds, and Edward could probably throw her twenty feet in the air, so putting her on his shoulders took no effort.

"Where are you going today, baby girl?" He asked her, holding on to her purple converse clad feet.

"I'm going to get my nails painted with Rainy, Char, and Lacy," she told him happily, grasping onto his shoulders.

"Hm, what color are you gonna get?"

"Purple, duh!" she giggled.

I smiled at them, and brushed my hand along Edward's back, then called out, "Kay, guys! This is the twins' stop. Girls, check them in for me?"

On second thought, I added, "And give them kisses from their big sister!"

The girls laughed, and Lorraine, or Rainy, as Noah and Kira tended to call her, turned back to say something, then spotted Kira on Edward's shoulders. Her jaw all but unhinged, she gave me a pointed look, wiggled her eyebrows, then turned and skipped to catch up with her conspirators, wedging herself between them and locking the three of them at the elbow. Undoubtably, they were talking about Edward, and as expected, two heads whipped back to see, then were quickly redirected by a tug on the arm from Lorraine. She let go of both of their arms, then went to open to door to the day care center, gesturing inside Vanna White style, and the other two girls pushed in the young, clueless, and hopelessly adorable in their matching strollers.

I let out a breath and rolled my eyes, glancing back to Edward and Kira, who were chatting and smiling as usual.

I looked up further on the sidewalk to see two dark haired boys scrambling in the other direction, and I stuck my thumb and index finger in my mouth, curling my tongue and blowing to achieve the strident sound I desired. The brunette heads pivoted back in my direction and I shook my head at them and shouted, "Beavis, Butt-head! Get back here!" They backtracked the few yards they'd wandered away in a half-jog, and I walked and met them in the middle.

"What?" Braxton asked.

"I know walking with your family _sucks, _but please at lease tell me where your headed before you ditch us," I said.

"Nah, you guys are _cool_... For a bunch of girls," he replied, and I laughed.

"You watched that show, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah, just don't tell mom. She'd be straight up pissed if she found out that I watched anything except Veggie Tales before I was twelve," he said, and I scoffed, and reached out to ruffle his hair.

"Who's that," he asked, nodding his head at Edward behind me.

"Who's who?"

He rolled his eyes at me, "The guy holding our kid sister on his shoulders," he said, humoring me.

"Edward."

"That's all I get to know?"

"Do you _want_ to know the details? Because they mostly just include how much I want to make-"

"NO NO NO NO NO. I'll pass. Thanks. Just, make sure he treats you good," he said, and I smiled.

"So, where are you guys headed?"

"The beach," Ty supplied.

"We're gonna meet up with Char, Lorraine, and them at that frozen yogurt place after they finish their girl shit," Braxton added.

I cut my eyes left at Kira and said, "Watch your mouth,"

He had the sense to look remorseful, "Sorry."

I smiled, "Alright, y'all can get out of here. Be careful. Call me if plans change. Call 911 if someone gets hurt. You know the drill," they nodded in understanding.

"Phones?" I asked, and Braxton fished his out of his pocket and showed it to me.

"You too, Ty," I said, he grinned and showed me his.

"Okay, leave," I smiled, shooing them off.

"Bye Bella!" they called behind their shoulders in unison, running off towards the shore.

Just then the girls emerged from the day care center kid-free, and I decided my work was done for the day. I looked to Edward to see him putting Kira back on her feet.

"Bye kiddo,"

"Bye Eddie! Bye Bells! I love you!" she gave us each quick hugs then ran to catch up with the girls.

"Phones?" I asked in a shout, and the three teenagers then produced the devices from their bags and held them in the air for a second before returning them to their place.

"Take care of Kira! Love you!" I yelled, and they hollered back their own declarations of affection, then took a turn round the corner and were out of sight.

"Done being a big sister for now?" Edward asked me.

"Looks that way," I said.

"Fantastic," he replied, and picked me up around the waist, toting me like a bag under his arm.

I shrieked and giggled and halfheartedly protested, "Edwaaarrddd!"

"Put me down!"

"Nope,"

"Edward, I have perfectly functioning legs,"

"I'm kidnapping you,"

"Oh really?"

"Mmm hmm,"

"And if I'm not okay with this?"

"Bella, you are the kidnappee, I am the kidnapper. You have no say in this,"

"Edward!"

"Protesting won't help you now,"

"EDWARD!"

"Yes?"

"Put me down, please,"

"Oh! You want me to put you _down_! I get it,"

"Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"So, put me down,"

"Nope,"

"_Oh my god," _

He laughed and hoisted me up higher so I was thrown over his shoulder with his arm locked across my thighs, and I sighed, hanging my head with my hair swinging down past his butt. So, being held captive by Edward definitely wasn't the worst thing in the world. Frankly, it was probably one of the better things. But I still felt inclined to find a way out of it. I chewed on my lip for a moment while I pondered escape tactics that wouldn't end with my head cracked on the sidewalk.

I grinned to myself as I thought of something, and maneuvered myself quickly, tightening my torso, and swinging my legs swiftly behind him and locking them at the ankles. Then I leaned back and slid down a few inches till my arms caught around his neck. I grinned victoriously. Edward had stopped in his tracks, and was staring at me, bewildered but with a smile on his face.

"I win," I declared, then detached my legs and dropped to the ground on my feet in front of him. I walked around behind him, then jumped up and got on him piggyback style, and pointed in front of us.

"Onward, slave!" I deadpanned, and he scoffed a laugh.

"Where to, Captain?" he asked.

"Hmm, can we go meet your sisters?" I asked, resting my chin on his shoulder.

"I suppose we could squeeze that into our agenda," he said.

"Okay then, hup to hup to!" I ordered drill sergeant style.

"How did you go from kidnappee to military officer?"

"I'm talented,"

"Is that right?"

"I don't pay you to ask questions, solider!" I shouted, though not hiding my smile.

"I better be getting paid for this kind of treatment!" he joked, and I threw my head back and laughed mirthfully.

It wasn't until later that I realized this was the exact moment I started to fall in love with Edward Cullen.

"You mind riding on my handle bars?" Edward asked when we stopped at a bike rack a few blocks down. He dropped his grip on my wrists, and I unraveled myself from him, letting my feet hit the concrete.

"Uh..." I hesitated, watching him dial the code into his padlock to unhook his bike. He turned back to grin at me, sensing my apprehension.

"I won't let you fall. Promise." I pursed my lips for a moment, debating.

"If I end up eating gravel, please spare me the mortification of fessing up to injuring myself while doing something that's not even remotely athletic. Make up some heroic tale that involves me saving a child or catching a robber or whatever," I said, as he strapped his helmet onto my head and buckled it under my chin.

"We'll work on it on the way," he grinned cheekily, kissed my nose, then straddled the seat and patted his handle bars.

"Hop on,"

Edward and his family didn't live as close to the beach as where I was staying. They were about a fifteen minute bike ride away, over in the residential area. I was quickly falling in love with the architectural style in the area: California type bungalow craftsman homes in every different color. The grass was lush green and everything was blooming. It was completely unlike the arid, beige, rocky place that I called home.

"This is it," Edward said, stopping at the driveway of an olive colored home with crisp white trim, reddish-brown brick accents, beautiful maple garage doors, and a front door that matched. The walkway was lined by gorgeous fuchsia colored flowers I didn't know the name of and the pillars that enclosed the steps up to the front door were flanked by bushes blooming with white flowers.

"Your house is amazing," I said sincerely, handing him his helmet.

His mouth curved into a smile, and he pulled me into his side, leaning his bike up against the curb with the helmet hanging on the handle, "Come on."

"Your parents home?" I asked as Edward led me up the front walkway.

"Carlisle isn't."

"At the hospital?" I guessed. I'd learned a lot about Edward by dint of our ongoing text communication. I suppose texting was now the conventional way to contact your friends, and especially to talk to the guy you like... Or not talk to? Me and Angie's friend Jess probably spent more time 'playing hard to get' and not responding to her prospective hookups than actually having conversations with them. Anyhow, I wasn't generally a texter. I favored phone calls. Partially due to my chatty disposition and mostly because of my intense dislike for the blatant disregard of English grammar rules in a form of writing called text speak. But, Edward-bless him-typed his messages in the English language; commas, periods, and all appropriate letters included.

Somehow, texting Edward never seemed impersonal. So I'd told him my favorite things, my dislikes, about my brothers and sisters, about my parents' divorce, how I loved all animals with the exception of cats, and how I missed having my mom around more often. And he told me how his dad died in a car wreck on the way to a hospital before he could hold his newborn sister, how he should be part of an obesity statistic because he eats like a 300 pound man, about his aversion to politics, and how he admires his step father and has plans to follow in his footsteps by majoring in the medical field. Strangely, I never found any of the conversation unpassioned, and, I kind of like the fact that how we got to know each other is documented, to be forever kept in some second unreachable cellular space.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

"Yeah," he nodded, "but my mom mig-" he pulled open the door then, and I jumped. Not at the beautiful interior; and, honestly, it was a charmingly decorated home, but at the two people that were suddenly in view.

"Jasper!" a girl was in the midst of giggling, jumping onto the back of a honey blonde boy with baby blue eyes and a crinkly smile. The pixie-esque girl had jet black hair with a natural curl that fell to brush her collar bone, striking hazel eyes, and below them a small pointed nose.

"Oh," she said, noticing our presence, and sliding to the ground, her bare feet barely making a sound when they landed on the floor.

"Uh, hey, bro," she said to Edward, running her finger through her hair, and rubbing the ankle of her left foot with her right.

"What is he doing here?" he asked gruffly, nodding his head at the boy whose name I assumed was Jasper. I felt bad for Alice, (I figured that's who she was, based on Edward's description of his sisters) I knew what it was like to have your sibling go brother-bear on the guy you liked.

"Edward! Don't be rude!" she admonished. He grunted, still staring at Jasper, who bravely stared back, his expression aloof. I almost giggled as they each attempted to assert 'male dominance.'

I bumped Edward's shoulder with mine, hoping to divert his attention from trying to intimidate Jasper, and smiled, "You're Alice, right? Hi, I'm Bella."

"Oh, my god! Hey," she stepped in front of Jasper and half out the door way and leaned up to hug me. I became fully aware of how tiny she was, as she was at least a half a foot shorter than me, and possibly under five feet tall.

I grinned as she pulled back, her enthusiasm was catching. "It's good to meet you," I said.

"You too! It's nice to put a face to the girl Edward hasn't shut up about for like three days," she replied.

"Alice," Edward warned.

"What? It's true! Honestly, Bella, your name has been in his every sentence spoken. 'Bella said this','Bella told me that','Bella is so beautiful.' It's rea-" the rest of her sentence was muffled as Edward pulled her into a headlock with his palm covering her mouth... Almost her entire face, really. Jasper watched Alice carefully, and they caught eyes for a second, the corner of his mouth lifting in response.

"Are you quite done?" Edward asked his sister, staring down at the top of her head.

"I frink fuu ruh ah a brah bee." I understood none of Alice's stifled speech.

"What was that?" Edward taunted, clearly finding it comical.

"Ass. Hole," she enunciated carefully behind his palm, and I giggled. Edward's gaze shot to me, and I hoped I wore an expression that read I-think-it's-cute-you-talk-about-me-release-your-s ister. His face reddened slightly in a really endearing way that made me want to hug him, and then he dropped his hand.

"Bella, I hope he doesn't _man-handle _YOU like that, because let me tell you, you can do way better than my big brother."

I laughed and decided that I liked Edward's little sister almost as much as I liked him.


	4. I Loved Them Too

For a moment I was weightless, just staring at the surface, my lungs deprived of their only exaction. The sunlight was refracted and reflected by the water, and I stared at the aftereffect briefly, the rippling orange-white glow not burning my eyes where its source would leave me blind. My toes grazed the bottom of the pool, and I pushed off, sending myself rushing to the top.

"I am the king!" Edward exclaimed, standing on top of the float victoriously.

"You cheated!" Alice argued, as his first victim. Ironic that it wasn't Jasper that he'd knocked off first, but it wasn't for lack of trying. I had ultimately been the one to send him flying, though it was only because he and Edward were distracted in another cave-man dominance assertion match.

"Hush peasant, I am the king, you must address me properly," he joked, and I scoffed, then jerked the edge of the raft, sending Edward tumbling, and much to my pleasure, falling into the water. I scrambled quickly onto the float, and he came up sputtering a few seconds thereafter.

"The king has been vanquished! Rejoice peasants!" I proclaimed, half-laughing. Alice hooted, pumping her fist into the air from her perch on Jasper's back, the sound of her soprano voice contrasting with his tenor chuckles.

"Mighty warrior, doth thou require sustenance after such a valiant battle?" Edward asked.

"Yes, o defeated. I must replenish my strength so that I may kickith your rear end in our next strife," I replied.

"We shall seeith."

"Sayith the one who was king for four seconds."

"Five," he argued.

"Whatever."

He smiled, "We not talking Shakespearean anymore?"

"Shakespeare does not have a monopoly on old English."

"What did Shakespeare do to get on your bad side?"

"Created the douchiest, most overrated 'protagonist' in the history of famous literature," I answered, and he chuckled.

"And which one is that?"

"Romeo." I responded, and he guffawed, throwing his head back.

"So if I started quoting sonnets from Romeo and Juliette you'd-" he spoke theoretically, amidst his laughter.

"Be liable to hit you," I completed for him, totally serious, but unable to restrain my smile.

"Good to know. Food?" he asked.

"Food." I agreed.

I went to go change before we ate, opting to use Alice's bathroom. My shirt had gotten soaked by the pool side, so Edward was letting me borrow his blue and gray button down. I tucked part of the hem into my jean shorts so it wouldn't look like I walking around pants-less, then made into the hallway and directly into a girl.

"Oh!" we exclaimed simultaneously, both startled. I immediately realized that it was Edward's other sister Rosalie. I was amazed by the stark contrast in the three siblings of one family. I suppose it was a given, considering Rosalie and Edward were only half related and Alice was adopted, but it was still shocking nonetheless. Rosalie had maybe two or three inches on me, a tall leggy blonde. Her platinum hair fell down past her bust line and even further down her back. It wasn't entirely pin straight, but had a natural wave to it. Her skin wasn't sun-kissed like you'd imagine a girl who lived in California's to be, but was pale with a pinkish tint in her cheeks. She wore little makeup, only some mascara and reddish lip gloss was noticeable. I was almost intimidated by how naturally pretty she was.

"Um, I don't know you," she pointed a finger at me.

"Yeah, we haven't met yet. I'm Bella, Edward's friend," I smiled.

"Oh, duh. Right, I should've realized. He's told us a lot about you. Well, I'm Rosalie. Call me Rose, though," she grinned.

"You look good in my shirt," Edward said, walking out of his room. I ducked my head, cheeks flushing slightly.

"Hey Rose."

"Sup, Edward."

"ROSIE! When did you get home?" Alice asked, emerging from her bedroom.

"Like, two minutes ago. I got some stuff."

"Oooh! Stuff. What stuff? I love stuff," Alice prattled excitedly.

"I got some new Essie nail polish, 500 Days of Summer on DVD, you know that necklace that we saw-" Alice nodded, and Rose continued, "yeah, that... Um, got a new bikini. Some guys number. A few tops. It was a pretty successful shopping day."

"What's 500 Days of Summer?" Alice asked.

"Oh my god, you haven't seen it?" Rose and I questioned her in unison, then grinned at each other.

"I have failed as a sister, clearly," she said to me.

"Well, redemption is upon you. I know what we're doing later," I replied, smiling.

"Am I invited?" Edward asked.

"Mmm hmm,"

"That's settled then. Can we go eat food now?" Alice asked, and obviously it was a rhetorical question, because she immediately latched onto my arm and dragged me towards the kitchen.

"I kind-of like my arm attached to the socket, thank you Alice," I teased when we arrived in the kitchen. Throughout the largely one-story house (minus an upper attic space that I had yet to see) the habitual rooms maintained a coastal feel, with nautical prints; light wood, white, and wicker furniture; and a color palette of yellow, white, green, and blue with the occasional splash of red. The kitchen was no exception to this decorative pattern, the counter tops a white marble, lower cabinetry oaken, while the upper was painted white. Between the cabinets and countertops was a backsplash of light blue tile. The fixtures were all brassy, except the stove which was charcoal. On the center island was an array of foods, a large red bowl of assorted chopped fruit, a platter of cupcakes, a bowl of salsa sided by chips, a tray of halved sandwiches, and a large pitcher of some fizzy pink drink.

"Is there anything specific you want that's not already out Bella?" Esme asked sweetly, walking inside from the back sliding door, just shutting the screen behind her to let in the fresh air.

"No, thank you, Mrs. Cullen. Everything looks delicious, but you really didn't have to go through so much trouble," I smiled.

"Just Esme, hon, remember? And it was no problem. All I did was whip up a few sandwiches and the like. It's all in the presentation." she smiled, pulling me to her in a sideways hug, and patting my shoulder maternally. Somehow I already felt so at home here, in the house I had been in for only a few hours with people that I had known for little over that. I ignored looming thoughts that it wouldn't last, couldn't last past the end of the summer. That was weeks away from now. I didn't have to worry about the date on the calendar just yet...


	5. I Taught Him To Play

_I promised to my wife and children  
__I'd never touch another drink as long as I live  
__But even then it sounds so soothing  
__This will blow over in time  
__This will all blow over in time_

I fooled around strumming on Edward's guitar, singing a Cold War Kids song that I'd loved since Pandora had played it on an alternative genre station. After we'd eaten enough to stretch our stomachs Jasper had to leave, Rose said she needed a shower, and Alice went off to break in Rose's new Essie nail polish. She'd offered to paint my nails too, but I declined, content with my black painted finger nails and clear coated toes. Edward was taking me to his room to complete the half-tour I'd gotten earlier when Esme called saying someone had phoned for him, so I'd gone by myself and discovered the acoustic Fender he had in a black case propped in the corner.

"Damn... What are you bad at?" Edward whistled from the doorway.

"Drawing, soccer, trigonometry, braiding hair, parallel parking, operating technology..." I smiled, my fingers paused at the neck of the guitar. He shook his head at me perplexed and grinning, as was his usual expression around me, and I beckoned him over, patting the carpet next to me.

"Come sit." He did, and I made move to hand the guitar to him, but he refused.

"Aw! Come on! Play me something," I pleaded, putting my chin on his shoulder and batting my eyelashes theatrically.

"Please," I said lightly, raising my eyebrows.

"I can't," he said, and I pursed my lips, pulling back my head and assessing him.

"Why?"

"Cause, I literally can't. I don't play," he explained. I clucked my tongue.

"You mean you have this beautiful instrument just _sitting _in a case, never getting any attention?"

"Tragic, isn't it?"

"Why do you have it?" I asked.

"It was my dad's... Mom said that he was really good. Talked about teaching his kids how to play one day. She said he'd want me to have it." I chewed on my lip and looked at him, searching for signs of abjection in his inscrutable expression.

"And you just never learned?" he shook his head.

"Do you want to?" I asked, and his eyes flickered to mine.

"You'd want to teach me?" I nodded, smiling at him, and slid the guitar into his lap.

So, for two and a half hours that's what I did. I taught him about frets, chords, and guide dots. I taught him how to pick and strum and helped him get down the basic strum patterns. He was a quick learner, and now I sat positioned behind where he held the neck of the guitar and sang as he played.

"I've been trying to do it right. I've been living a lonely life. I've been sleeping here instead. I've been sleeping in my bed," I paused as he stumbled a bit on finger placement and put my hand over his, moving his middle finger up a string. "Sleeping in my bed," I finished, laughing a little.

"So show me family. All the blood that I will bleed. I don't know where I belong. I don't know where I went wrong, but I can write a song." I patted the beat out on my thigh.

"I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart. I belong with you, you belong with me, you're my sweetheart." I sang the full word, and he stopped here, dropping his hand from the guitar. I looked up to see we'd gathered a bit of a crowd as Esme, Rose, and Alice leaned in the doorway.

"You guys are so good!" Alice squealed, breaking the silence first, clapping her hands together. Esme followed suit, clapping as well, and Rose threw in an "OW OW!" I ducked my head into Edward's shoulder, cheeks reddening.

"You two sound wonderful together. And Bella, don't be embarrassed. You have a beautiful singing voice, dear," Esme said, ever the appeaser.

"Thank you, Esme. All of you," I said, lifting my head.

"Okay, family..." Edward started, and Esme smiled knowingly, and wrapped her arms around her daughters' shoulders, leading them away from the door, whispering something my ears couldn't pick up.

I scooted forward, my calfs touching Edward's back, and placed my chin on his shoulder again.

"Hmm, thanks for playing for me," I said. He turned his head, his nose brushing my skin. He pressed his lips to my temple, "You're welcome."

"What do you wanna do now?"

"Would you like to help wash my car?" I kissed his cheek, "Sure," I said, and hopped up.

I had washed a car before. I wasn't very particular about it. A bucket of water, some rags, soap, maybe some wax if you were gonna be fancy about it. It was never something I'd put to much thought into. Contrastively, washing a car at the Cullen home is an event to be held. Alice says it's just Edward. After the pre-wash preparation, as Edward calls it, we finally started the actual washing of the car. Edward's baby. I was currently scrubbing the car counterclockwise with a white- not purple, yellow, or blue, WHITE -terry cloth rag, damp and wrung out precisely 3 times, then dotted with one quarter sized squirt of soap, as instructed by Edward. I teased him as I went along, threatening to scrub clockwise. I rolled my eyes at his childish protest. I had never met someone so finicky ab-

'SMACK'

A soaking sponge struck me dead in the chest. The excess water had splattered up in my face, the beads now trickled down my face and into Edward's shirt soaking the bra I had on, then the sponge dropped to the ground with a wet splat. I stopped scrubbing, and looked up. Edward washed with too-casual focus, not excessively OCD engaged as he had been throughout the whole ordeal. I narrowed my eyes. Bending down, I grabbed the bucket of water that sat next to me, and lugged it over to Edward's side.

"Hey," he grinned at me innocently, glancing up. I smiled, lifted the bucket up, and dumped it on his head.

"Hey," I countered, then bolted. Edward recovered from his surprise shower and dashed after me. I laughed loudly as he chased me, and as I giggled I lost my footing, slipping in the grass and sliding onto my butt. Edward tripped purposely and landed next to me. I beamed at him, and he flicked some water off his fingers at me. I allowed it. I couldn't drench him more than I already had. I chortled at his sopping head. His usually disheveled hair had taken on a state of even more disarray, and his bronze locks were now a darker amber shade. I reached my hands out and mused it up even more, shaping it into a mohawk, then pulled back and pressed the back of my hand to my mouth, trying to conceal my laughter.

"What? This not a good look for me?" I laughed, and shook my head. I crossed my legs and sat in front of him, our knees pressed together, then I messed with it again, pushing his hair around till it resembled a comb over.

I placed my hands back in my lap and laughed harder this time, "You are a bully, Isabella Swan," he said, and shook out his own hair, sending water droplets flying. I squealed, and he realized what happened, then grinned wickedly, and reached out, crushing me to him.

"Edward!" I shrieked in protest, as the button-up I wore soaked straight through.

"You're all wet!" I shouted.

"Mmhmm. I wonder how that happened," he said, his tone rightfully accusing.

"Oh yeah," I smiled sheepishly.

"Oh yeah," he repeated mockingly, but smiled, reaching up softly, and brushing away a drop of water from my nose.

"I like you," I told him, leaning my head forward to rest on his chest.

He chuckled, "Good."


	6. He Distracted Me

"Hey Ma, you mind if I stay over at a friend's tonight?" I asked, my phone pressed between my ear and Edward, whom I had employed as a human pillow.

"I'm not going to be home till late, but I suppose that's fine, so long as Emmett is okay without you there. Who's house will you be staying over at?"

"My friends Alice, Rose, and Edward Cullen's," I mumbled his name, and his fingers piano-ed along my spine.

"Edward?"

"Mmhm. Alice and Rose's brother. We won't spend too much time with him, though," I said, and Edward's chest rumbled as he snorted a laugh. It wasn't exactly a fib, I decided, as I pondered the boundless hours I could spend with Edward and never attach 'too many' to them. Too little, however, was entirely within grasp. I sighed, and his fingers tickled tormentingly across my back.

"Is Mrs. Cullen home?"

"Esme? Yeah, she's sweet too. You'd like her." I said, reaching back and grasping Edward's hand in mine, pulling it up so it was above both our heads.

"Okay, well you have a dance class tomorrow at ten at Dana's, so don't be late to that... Um-" I heard a voice address her in the background. Edward didn't resist the position, but his fingers fought mine playfully, tickling and tangling themselves around mine.

"Melissa, hold on a second, I'm on the phone with my daughter,"

"Bella, I've-"

"Gotta go. Yup. I'll check in with Emmett, and I won't be late to class in the morning. See you tomorrow?"

"Yes. Love you, sweetheart," I released Edward's hand and he snickered and placed it around me again, but kept his appendages still this time.

"Love you too," I hung up, and tossed my phone onto the mattress.

"So you won't be spending too much time with me, huh?"

"Her idea of what warrants too much time with you and my idea of the same are completely different measurements."

"Aren't you clever."

"And you're very distracting," I said, leaning up on my elbow and looking down at him.

"Distracting? How so?" he asked, his hand gliding across my back again, this time brushing exposed skin of my lower back. I had changed out of Edward's soaked button-up and into a grey wife-beater Rose had said she'd grown out of. Unfortunately; or fortunately, I hadn't really decided, it was a bit too small for me as well. Edward grinned cheekily as he saw my response to the contact in the form of goosebumps across my arms.

"So, are you staying the night?" Alice asked, skipping into the doorway.

"Jesus, Alice! Get out," Edward said.

"What? You're not doing anything!" she defended.

"Oh but you want-" she babbled to herself, "Shut up, Alice," Edward said.

I laughed, "Yeah, my mom okayed me saying over, Al," I said.

"Okay... I'll see you guys later," she said, and darted from the room. Edward groaned. I laughed and teasingly patted his cheek, then hauled myself up from the bed.

"Come on," I said.

"What are we doing?"

"I dunno," I said.

"But, where are we going?"

"I dunno! Let's go!" he chuckled and followed me as I wondered, then stumbled across the narrow stair case that lead up to the attic and started up the stairs.

The room was all but unfurnished, compiled of just four exceptionally large brown beanbags arranged in a semicircle, the open part of the U-shape facing a sweeping off-white screen on the wall opposite of a rather complicated looking stereo system type thing concealed in a cherry wood entertainment center. Beige painted, low vaulted ceilings met up with olive colored walls, all of them bare of any piece of art, much unlike the rest of the immaculately put-together carpet beneath my bare feet was plush with a sandy hue.

"You have an in-home movie theater?" I asked, rather stupidly. He nodded.d

"Where do you keep all your movies?" he grinned, and turned walked over to one of the seemingly bare walls and pushed it with intent, then suddenly he was pulling out a shelf, full of probably every movie I'd ever seen.

"Oh my god," I said, then he walked another step to the left and repeated the same process twice more, pulling out two additional shelves full of DVDs.

"Oh my _god,_" I repeated.

"What do you want to watch?"

We ended up calling in Alice and Rose to help us make the decision, because I tended to be indecisive when given four choices, nonetheless hundreds. And they literally had hundreds of DVDs.

Finally we remembered about 500 Days Of Summer, and the decision was made then. Alice and Rose ran downstairs, filled two bowls with popcorn, and brought up more of that fizzy pink drink we had earlier that doesn't have a name because Esme makes it, but it's delicious.

Rose and Alice each claimed a beanbag for themselves, but Edward and I, in a tacit agreement, settled into one beanbag, the length of our arms pressed together down our sides, both my legs thrown across his right and weaved under his bent left knee. We'd also appropriated the green bowl of popcorn and two glasses of the unnamed-pink-fizzy-deliciousness, while the girls got the same in a shade of pink.

"Shit, we forgot to turn the lights off," Alice said as the opening credits rolled. No one moved to get up, and I looked at Edward strangely as he grabbed my hand and brought it up to my face.

"What are yo-" I started.

"Nose goes!" he called, winking at me.

"Dammit!" Rose cursed a second later and pushed herself up from her spot, evidently the loser of the game I unintentionally cheated in.

Then the lights were off.


	7. He Didn't Care

_Why didn't I take off my bra before I went to sleep? God, this bed is comfortable... But this pillow sucks. Did I kick mine onto the floor again? Gotta stop doing that. Mm.. this one smells good though. Kinda like.. kinda.._

"Gruuuhh?" incoherent drowsy dinosaur noises rumbled from my chest. Presently, I realized I wasn't in my bed nor lying on an actual pillow. I smiled languidly and glanced up at Edward, who still slept amidst my post-waking noises and snored softly.

I peered over at the bedside table, and the incandescent red numbers on the clock reminded me that I had stuff to do and knocked me out of my sleepy stupor.

"Stupid unreliable phone alarm," I muttered, slipping out of the bed.

"Edward." I said, padding around the room. I threw off the tank I was wearing and opened one of Edward's drawers, assuming he wouldn't care if I borrowed another shirt.

"Edward!" I said again, picking up a pillow from the ground and throwing it at him.

"Whaa?" he groaned, picking his head up from his pillow with one eye squinted open in search of his attacker.

Suddenly, he spotted me, and both his eyes widened while his eyebrows shot up into his hairline.

"Bel, you're-"

"Not wearing a top. Really observant, Sherlock. Could I borrow a muscle shirt or something?" he nodded, still staring.

"Little help?"

"With what? Taking off another layer?" he wiggled his eyebrows. Apparently, he was over being bashful. I picked up a discarded pair of Nike shorts and tossed them at his face.

"Which drawer, Casanova? And get dressed."

"Second from the bottom. And you're demanding in the morning." he said, standing up from the bed and pulling the shorts on over his boxers. I reached in the dresser and grabbed a blue muscle shirt for me and tossed a green cotton t-shirt at Edward.

"Get used to it," I said, pulling the shirt over my head as Edward exchanged the shirt he was wearing for the fresh shirt I'd tossed him.

"Does that mean you plan on sleeping over more?" he raised his eyebrows playfully.

"I dunno, are you gonna fix your snoring problem?" I retorted, skipping out of the bedroom.

After brushing my teeth, pulling back on the converse I'd worn the day before, and brushing my hair back into a ponytail, we were in the car. Edward ripped open a package of strawberry Poptarts with his teeth and backed out of the driveway.

"Want one, babe?" he asked, handing it to me as he yielded at a stop sign.

"Breakfast of champions," I grinned, taking it from him.

"You bet. Now, where am I going?"

"Dana's-"

"Oh, the dance school connected to the gym?"

"That'd be the one."

"Cool, maybe I can squeeze a workout in.."

**That Summer**

"Good morning everyone!" a woman with a mane of fire red curls and a tiny waist walked into the room where one guy and six girls, including myself, had been mingling for a few minutes.

"I'm Victoria Lefevre, call me Vic or Vicki or Tori or just about anything other than Ms. Lefevre. I'm only twenty-six, people. I don't think I'm old enough to need a honorific," there was a lull of silence before she spoke again, "Agreed?"

There was a chorus of concurrence and a various string of compliments before she laughed, "No one likes a kiss ass," she winked at us. We laughed.

"Alright, so now that my name is covered we need to go over yours. Typically, we'd play some game where we would sit in a circle and go around and each spout some trivial fact about ourself and by the end of it we'd all only remember about four people's names. Sound about right?" she said, and we laughed, "Well, I'm a multi-tasker, so we're gonna take care of all of the formalities during warm-up. You come up next to me, tell us your name, how long you've been dancing, and your favorite song and warm up. For the rest of that warm-up, you'll answer questions from the group. Next person will come up, we'll do the previous person's favorite warm up while they talk... You get it?"

"Y'all catch on so much faster than my four year old," she joked, and we laughed.

"You," she pointed to a busty girl with her blonde hair chopped too short for a ponytail and a silver barbell pierced through her right eyebrow. "Get up here."

Two hours later, I was flicking a bead of sweat off my forehead and hugging eight people I'd just met.

"Bye Bella!" chimed after me as I walked out the door.

"See you guys later!" I waved.

I jogged down the stairs and walked out the front door, flashing a smile at the receptionist who held a phone to her ear and waved to me as I left. I walked over to the gym next door where Edward told me he'd be. The receptionist at this desk was a little less friendly, I noted, as she whipped her dyed blonde hair behind her shoulder and glared at me as I walked in.

"I've never seen _you _before. Do you have a membership? You can't stay in here if you don't have one," she snapped at me, as I assessed the place on my tip toes.

"No, I don't. I'm just looking for my friend. I'll be out of here in a second," I relaxed back down to my heels and looked at her, smiling, "Promise." I didn't wait for a response, but walked towards the bench press where I'd spotted Edward's unmistakable head of hair.

"Aren't you supposed to have a spotter when you're lifting that much free weight?" I asked as I neared him. His mouth upturned in a grin and his biceps bulged once more before he put the bar back down and dropped his grip.

"How was your class?" he asked, running a hand through his hair and pushing himself up off the bench.

"Good, everyone was pretty chill. There was one chick... Grace. Yeah, she seemed pretty full of herself. Sort of expected that though. It's an advanced dance class, there was gonna be an ego- What are you doing?" I took a step away from him as he moved to put his arm around me.

"I'm sweaty," I explained to his confused expression.

He grinned and took a step towards me again, pressing a kiss into my hair, "I don't care."

"I don't know whether to be touched or grossed out," I told him as he pulled me under his arm and we walked towards the exit.

He laughed, "Probably both. I stink."

"I know," I deadpanned, waving the hand opposite of Edward in front of my face. He scoffed, and pinched my side, eliciting a girlish squeal to burst from my lips.

"Ticklish, huh? I'll keep that in mind," he pushed open the glass door and held it for me, grinning.

I rolled my eyes, "So where are we headed?"


	8. I Fell

**Hey everybody! So, I realized how confusing it was to have half of the old version up and half  
****of the new, especially since some people don't read ANs, so I just downloaded the rest of it into my  
****writing folder and deleted the old chapters from the published version. No worries, I'll be up to date  
on the ****old version really soon****. ****I've only got three exams left, and I have camp in two weeks, but  
****other than that I'll be doing ****a lot of writing this summer. Thanks for sticking it out with me.**

* * *

"No. No, no, no, no, no. Edward. I am sweaty, I have no makeup on, and I smell like the inside of an NBA player's shoe. I am not going to meet a bunch of your friends." I told him, hoping my tone conveyed some sense of finality that he wouldn't argue with.

"Bel, it's not like you need to impress these guys. Besides, you're beautiful all the time... Even when you smell like athletes foot," he said wryly, his eyes alight with mischief.

My mouth opened with a pop. "Ugh!" I protested, my hand reflexively swatting him on the chest.

He grinned, catching my hand in his, "Please come?"

I rolled my eyes, "I have no backbone anymore."

He kissed my knuckles, "Put your seatbelt on."

A good twenty minutes later we were pulling up in front of a quaint blue house with a white porch and two big climbing trees in the front of it. Edward promptly hopped out of the car, jogged around to my side, and pulled open my door with a hand extended for me to take.

I stared up at him, blinking. "Come on. They don't bite," he prompted, and grasped my hand in his, hoisting me out of the car.

Parallel to the ride over, I imagined the worst case scenarios for my current dilemma. These ranged from a likely awkward silence or two, to the improbable, however worrying thought that maybe they'd hate me and point out my insufficiencies to Edward and then throw things at me till I left and-

"Bella, watch your-" _step. _Hey ground, nice to meet you. I'm uncoordinated.

"Ow," I muttered as Edward gripped me by the forearm and pulled me to my feet in one steady motion. His eyes scanned me quickly, looking for an injury. Undoubtably, I had one, given the steady sting I felt in my knee.

"_Shit, _your bleeding." Yup.

"I'm really fine," I assured him as he lifted me to sit on the hood of his car. I was used to small scrapes and bruises. I'd discovered when I was small that I had a beef with gravity. Unfortunately, gravity is an apathetic force of nature -literally- so having a sit down to talk it out is never gonna happen, regardless of the number of times it knocks me on my butt.

Edward touched my leg carefully, assessing the damage, then said "Hold on one sec," and dashed for the house.

"I'm honestly okay, Ed-" the front door slammed shut.

**Edward **

"Jacob!" I called, walking in the entrance.

"Edward!" female voices squealed, followed by the instantaneous patter of bare feet running down the hall.

"Hey!" I greeted the girls as they met me in the front entrance.

"Where's Bella, Eddie?" Rachel asked, leaning against the wall as Kim and Emily hugged me around the waist. Leah trailed down the hall and grinned at me, giving a three finger wave. She never was very affectionate.

"She's bleeding on the hood of my car, actually. Where are the band-aids?"

"No shit?" Leah said, making for the window and lifting the blinds to peer through them.

"Kitchen. First cabinet on the left, Edward." Rachel told me.

"Where are the guys?" I asked.

"Well, Sam, Jared, and Quil are in the back, I think-" Emily started, releasing me.

"And, Jacob, Paul, and Seth are in the kitchen, as usual," Kim completed, skipping ahead of us one step and maneuvering backwards. She pushed through the swinging doors that lead into the kitchen and Emily and I each caught one before they swung into our faces.

"Sup, assholes," I said as I walked in. Jacob jumped off the counter and threw an arm around my shoulder and Seth greeted me with a nod, but Paul's face was hidden by the freezer door.

"Frozen peas, frozen peas... Frozen pizza!" Paul lifted the circular, vacuum-sealed preservative in the air victoriously.

"Oh, hey man!" he said when he spotted me.

"Hey Paul," I laughed, opening a cabinet and pulling out the medical kit on the first shelf. I pulled out a box of band-aids and shook out a couple, grabbing one that looked about the right size.

"I'll be right back."

"What are you doing?" Jacob asked.

"Bella's bleeding," I supplied.

"Fuck!" he cursed, and I raised and eyebrow as he handed Rachel a twenty he fished out of his pocket.

"Jacob bet that there wasn't actually a Bella," Seth explained.

"He thought you were just saying there was a girl to get Sue off your back," Paul told me, his mouth full of cookie. Sue is Leah and Seth's mom, but she doubled as everyone else's mother too. She was known for her fantastic cooking and for asking the question 'how's your girlfriend.' Most especially this question was forced upon the generally single, and the follow up was something like an eHarmony ad. I rolled my eyes and walked back towards the front door.

"Wait! I wanna meet her!"


	9. He Jumped In

**Hey guys! I just want to let y'all know that I've been keeping an eye on the story traffic,  
and I'm really happy with the amount of you that are reading along. It's great to see.  
However, I'd love to hear what you guys think, so if you could please please shoot me a  
review, or if you can't, go to my profile and send me a PM, I would really appreciate the feedback.  
It keeps me updated on how you guys feel about the story progression, what you wanna see, and just  
generally makes me want to write more, which obviously works out in your favor. Thanks for listening!**

**Now go read! xx**

* * *

**Bella**

Oh, my god. He goes in to get a band-aid and comes out with a mob. A few friends my butt. How many people is that? I attempted to count the quickly advancing heads, but all the eyes appraising me caused me to revert my own, instead taking to examining the hood of Edward's car.

I felt his hand on my leg before I saw it, "How you holding up?"

"Not sure, you think you can save my leg?" I joked, and Edward looked up at me, lips twitching.

"I dunno... We may have to amputate it below the knee," he said, deadpan as he placed the bandage quickly over the offending wound.

"Will you still be friends with me when I'm an amputee?" he pretended to ponder my question.

"Only if I can call you stubby," he decided.

My facade crackly minutely, and I smiled, "It's a deal, doc."

He opened his mouth to respond, but instead somebody else spoke, "Shit, she's as weird as you are, Cullen." The voice was playful, teasing, and when I looked up to see who spoke, I confirmed that they were joking, as an easy smile was spread across his face. I met his dark eyes and grinned, just as the rest of the spectators chuckled lightly, but Edward, however, didn't find it so funny, I realized as he turned, swiftly smacking him on the arm.

"Apologize, asshole," Edward demanded, and I hopped up from where I sat, touching his forearm gently, gliding my hand down and lacing his fingers with mine.

"Sorry, Bella," the smiling face told me.

"If you tell me your name, I'll forgive you," I replied, matching his grin.

He laughed, "Jacob."

"How'd that happen?" he gestured to my knee.

"I'm vertically retarded," I explained.

"Well, that's one way of saying clumsy," he replied.

"I figure if it sounds like a condition people will feel bad about teasing me." The lot of them laughed loudly, and my cheeks warmed as I ducked my head.

Edward's arm wormed it's way around my waist as they gave their introductions. He'd dropped my hand so it was free to shake others. First, I met Paul, who was outwardly similar to Jacob, with russet skin and dark eyes, but his features made sharp angles where Jacob's were rounded boyishly. Paul appeared to be older, and was the biggest out of four boys around me. I also met Seth, who had a honey complexion and sandy colored hair, long around his ears.

The girls; Rachel, Kim, Emily, and Leah all had warm summer tans, though Rachel had olive skin like Jacob's. This made sense, as they told me she was Jake's older sister. The two of them showed their family resemblance further in their long, charcoal hair, but Rachel left hers hanging free around her shoulders, while Jacob's was partially secured in the back, fell only a few inches below his collar bone, and was noticeably more unkempt then hers.

Leah's hair was a few shades lighter, brown rather than black, and cut shorter in a layered, swinging bob that brushed her shoulders. Kim was the fairest of the four of them, with freckles across her cheeks and red, straight hair, cut in long layers. Emily's hair was the shortest, it appeared to only reach her chin, and was pushed back by a crisp, white cotton headband.

She had a long-healed scar that marred the left side of her face, stretching from the top of her eyebrow and curving further left towards her ear, along her cheekbone. I'd contemplated momentarily asking her what happened, but kept my mouth shut, unsure of whether it was a sore subject.

After a beat of slightly awkward, post-introduction silence, Edward proposed that we head out-back to see the 'rest of the guys' because apparently this wasn't all of them.

The crowd of us moved to the backyard then, opting to use the back gate instead of the front door. Edward walked to the right of me, his hand in mine again, while Kim strode along on the other side, listening to me intently while I answered her small talk-esque questions.

As we walked through the wooden fence, letting it swing shut behind us, I was distracted by the sudden commotion.

_Splash! _

"Boo!" chorused from several male voices.

I looked up at the sound, and spotted three guys in a large pool. One was surfacing, just to the left of a circular tube, bubbles rising around him as the diving board quivered behind him.

"Dammit!" he cursed.

Edward chuckled. "You suck, Jared!" he taunted loudly.

"Fuck you, man! You couldn't do any better!" Jared challenged, swimming to the ledge. Edward raised his eyebrows, then looked to me and kissed my cheek quickly, then cocked his head towards the pool as if to say 'watch this.' He jogged towards the diving board, pulling off his t-shirt as he went, leaving me trailing towards the water with Kim still at my side.

He stepped up easily and walked towards the edge, assessing the place that one of the other guys had repositioned the float to. He nodded, then jumped three times in succession, testing, before he turned around. He jumped once more, propelling himself into the air and quickly into a backflip, then dove straight through the tube.

Cheers and whooping broke out, and I grinned, cupping my hands around my mouth as I cheered along with them. Edward resurfaced, flipping his now saturated hair out of his face and grinning victoriously.

"You suck," he restated, pointing at Jared. Instead of responding, Jared pulled him into a headlock, shoving Edward's head under the water before he released him.

Edward came up again, still laughing, then looked to me.

"You comin' in, babe?"

**Review for quicker updates (; **


	10. He Pulled Me In

**Hey guys! I wouldn't call it a quick update, but it doesn't even touch my track record for how  
long I've made y'all wait for previous chapters. Hope you like it! By the way, I'm currently speaking  
with a Beta, Simply Abbey, and hopefully real soon here y'all will have even more edited chapters.  
I was going to wait for her to edit this one, but I didn't want to make YOU guys wait, so.. (; **

**Bella**

"Shut up, asshole. Bella can get in however she wants," Edward argued in my defense, as I removed my sneakers, bent over my legs on the grounded edge of the diving board.

"Hey, my pool my rules," Jacob countered.

"You can just walk in if you want, Bella," Rachel assured me from a few feet away.

The current topic of discussion was that, as the rules went, the first time you jump into the pool it is required that it be a trick not yet preformed that day. I hadn't even gotten a word in edge-wise after being informed of the 'rules' before there was an uproar from the girls and Edward, with various insults thrown from both sides.

I rose presently, my shoes and socks now discarded on the pebbled mosaic tile that covered the area around the pool, then removed Edward's shirt, leaving me in the black Nike shorts I'd borrowed from Rose and my neon blue sports bra. Kim whistled behind me and my lips twitched into an embarrassed, closed-mouth grin.

Finally, as I'd evoked a lull in the dispute, I mounted the diving board and stepped into a front walkover, gripping the front edge of the board; there was more cat-calling, and one of the boys hooted, "Eddie!" seemingly congratulatory. I grinned again, and dropped my feet back to the board, immediately leading into a back walkover, then jumped into a front handspring, landing myself in the water in something like pencil dive.

I surfaced to the sound of boisterous cheering and my cheeks reddened. I paddled over to the shallow end, and stopped when my feet rested flat on the floor. Edward wadded over to me, teeth on full display.

"You could've just told me to shut up," he spoke when he reached me, his hands sliding onto my waist beneath the water.

I hummed, "I thought I'd let you fight for my honor a bit.. It was sweet of you." I lifted both my arms, resting my hands at the base of his neck.

He rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to speak again when he was interrupted by a hand clasping onto his shoulder.

"Ah, but clearly your girlfriend doesn't need your help. Nice to meet you, Bella. I'm Sam, and that was a cool jump. You in gymnastics or somethin'?" I noted that Sam had some variation of a northeastern accent, and definite Italian features. I dropped both my hands and turned to face him, but Edward kept one of his arms secured around my waist.

I shook Sam's hand and my head concurrently, "Dance, actually. And, um.. we're not.. uh dating."

He raised his eyebrows speculatively, glancing between the two of us, and shook his head, "Right. My bad." He muttered something to Edward that I couldn't hear, then looked to me again, "We'll talk more later, but first I gotta show you up on that last trick. You're making all of us look bad, Bella."

I grinned, "S'what I'm here for."

Eventually the back and forth turned into a game of H-O-R-S-E, minus the basketball, of course, as someone would do the trick to beat and the rest of us would attempt to match it.

Most everyone had completed the noun, and thus lost the game- I had gotten my 'E' two rounds previous to the one we were currently watching. Edward and Sam were left to jumping off the net-less trampoline we had pulled to the edge of the pool, the tricks off of which could be more complex because of the added springs, and therefore, additional air-time. I had been able to last five tricks off of it when, on my last jump, I had missed the target of two stacked tubes, only managing to knock the top one off. The girls and I had banded together, rooting for one of us to beat out the rest of the guys, but Leah had been our last hope, and had lost on her turn just after mine. So, we had split, half of us rooting for one guy and vice versa. The loudest of us were Emily and I, Emily as the respective girlfriend of Sam, and me... well, I was still title-less, but I was definitely channeling my inner-cheerleader in Edward's favor.

On this particular trick, which they had decided was a front triple twist, in the midst of which they had to catch a ball thrown to them, then land through one tube floating in the water, Sam had failed, as he flipped only twice, caught the ball, and narrowly missed the target, just skimming the side of it. Emily still jumped in the pool after him, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him as if he'd successfully completed the jump. They drifted to the shallow end, still tangled in each other, to chorusing 'get a room's. Sam smiled despite his loss and his mocking friends, flippantly shooting every one the bird as he continued to kiss his girlfriend.

"Alright- Edward lands this trick, he wins," Quil announced, holding the tube in place with the pool cleaner extension from the side.

I whooped, my feet dangling over the pool wall from where I sat on the brim of the connecting hot tub. Edward grinned at me, hopping up on the tramp and immediately starting to jump.

As he began to flip, Rachel threw the ball, and he caught it just as he completed the third twist, then finished, flawlessly sending himself through the tube.

He resurfaced, and we clamorously applauded him as he swam to the edge where my feet dangled. He propelled himself up, catching the ledge with his palms on either side of me.

"Sorry I don't have a medal for you," I apologized, hardly trying to hide my smile.

"I'm sorry too," he said, and maybe I should've guessed it, but before I could fully ask, he was gripping my hips and pulling me, shrieking, back into the water

I came back up sputtering, Edward's arms still around me as he laughed.

"Jerk!" I swatted him on the chest with scant force, not even capable at being angry with him for a second.

"Yo! Y'all wanna bring out the water guns?"

**Next update soon! Shoot me a review, please? They mean so, so much. **


	11. I Was Interrogated

**SHOUTOUTS: Big thanks to laurenmhughes, loving-this-twilight, dr. meow1234, lizakimiko, lovelycullen96, and EpitomeOfBella for reviewing the newest version of this story. Seriously, you guys, you have no idea how nice it is to hear feedback. ****The traffic stats allow me to know that you guys are reading, but I have no idea if you're enjoying it/hating it/indifferent unless you tell me. Please don't worry about being in-depth, saying something intelligent about the story, or signing in, I just love love love to hear from you guys. A smiley face would even make me happy. I put a  
lot into this because I love it, but you guys are my motivation to keep going, so don't let me forget about it! Again, big thanks to the reviewers! You guys are wonderful. And, yes, you're all awesome for simply clicking on my little story. **

***MUAH* now get reading! (: **

**Bella**

I groaned, resting the wet plastic of the Nerf gun against my calf. I had been hit. Again. As the game went, I had to wait for another player on my team to crawl between my legs before I could 'unfreeze'. Ultimately, the goal was to collect the other teams flag and bring it back to our base, which happened to be the front porch, and, technically, they didn't need all of the players, so my teammates could potentially just leave me allegorically frozen till we won- or lost, depending.

Just as I was pondering the bad karma of cheating during a water gun fight, Edward appeared, scrambling around the corner of the house. He cut his eyes left momentarily, mid-run, when he saw me.

"Dammit, again, babe?" he jogged to me.

"It's your trigger-happy fuckin' friends," he raised his eyebrows at me as the curse passed my lips.

I rolled my eyes, "Shut up and get between my legs."

He snorted and dropped to the ground, low-crawling on his forearms. He paused half-way and flipped over, smirking cheekily.

"This is what you wanted, yeah?"

I opened my mouth to admonish him, then pursed my lips and decided against it, "That'll do, babe." I brought my water gun up against my shoulder and squirted him in the face before swinging my left leg over him and scampering away.

"FRIENDLY FIRE!" he protested, still in the grass behind me.

"Who said we were friends?" I jested, and darted around the house.

After more than an hour of water-gun style capture the flag, we'd called it quits and ordered a pizza, deciding that the defrosted one that Paul had apparently abandoned on the kitchen counter wasn't near enough.

We'd all talked and put in, but essentially ignored movies for hours after that, when at nine o'clock my phone buzzed. Or, evidently, had been buzzing, as thirteen texts and seven missed calls had racked up since I'd been at the house.

Much to my horror, the majority were from my mother, and I had called her, then promptly lowered the in-call volume, as she answered on the second ring without a 'hello' and instead with a 'Where have you been?' in a tone filled with excessive hysteria. After assuring her that I'd return home soon, and that I'd spend the following day with my sisters, I'd ended the call and looked to Edward. He'd already had his keys in hand.

I'd made further promises to everyone that I'd be back again, and that I would come out with them on the boat that Leah and Seth's family owned sometime. Then Edward and I were back in the car.

**That Summer**

"Mornin' sunshine," I nodded to Emmett, spooning another scoop of mashed banana for Jackson. After babbling protest from a clearly deprived Jemma, I made airplane noises as I brought a spoonful to her mouth as well. They smacked their lips happily.

"Where were you yesterday?" he asked, pouring coffee into a mug for himself.

I smiled at the twins as they flashed me their dimples, "Around."

"With Edward?"

I hummed non-commitally, "What were you up to?"

"You avoiding my question?"

"Why am I being interrogated?"

"Because you're all... like.. chipper."

"You have a problem with me being.. _chipper_?" I scrapped the bowl and delivered one last mouthful to each of the twins before turning to face Emmett in my seat.

He had his arms crossed, and a line formed between his eyebrows, "Put away the face, Em. I'm allowed to spend time with a guy. I'm not a little girl, and I'm not your responsibility."

"I just... I know his type, Bell. And I don't want to see you get messed up in this."

"You don't know him, Em... And I'm not gonna get messed up in anything- take Jackson, will ya? -It's not like that." I knew I was lying straight through my teeth, but it wasn't a conversation that I was going to have, with Emmett or anyone else.

We each bounced the twins on our hips, wiping their little faces clean of their breakfast. "Now- you're on daycare duty, and I'm going out with the girls today. I dunno what Brax and Ty are up to, just have them check in with you, yeah?"

He ignored me, "I just worry about you, Belly. You know that."

I sighed, "I'll let you know if I need you to beat someone up for me, okay? But you need to wait for my call."

"Deal. Gimme squirt, you need to wake the girls up."

"Thanks, Em."

"Mmmhmm."

**Next chapter is gonna be goooood. (;  
****Review? **


	12. He Kissed Me

**I've been so looking forward to writing this chapter! Hope you guys enjoy it. **

**Bella**

I had always loved roller coasters. The bubbling suspense as it carted you up, up, up, the track creaking underneath the weight of the car, causing your fingers to instinctively grip tighter on the restraints. The contemplation of your own and the safety of everyone around you was left at the height of the first drop. Everything seemed to be released; worries, care, laughter, and of course, screams, as you seemed to play with the laws of physics, looping, dropping, and spinning along the course. Short minutes later, you all arrive back at the station with a neck-jerking stop, wind-blown and grinning, those waiting to exchange their spot in line for your seat buzzing with anticipation. It was a fantastic production.

I felt bad that Kira hadn't met the height requirement for many of the rides, so she couldn't always partake. Even still, she entertained herself snapping pictures with my Nikon camera, and always had a big smile when the car arrived back, deepening the dimples in her cheeks. God, she was a cute kid. Her cherubic round face was contrasted by a little cleft in her chin, and above her button nose were a pair of classic brown puppy dog eyes. Today her wispy dirty blond hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, reminding me slightly of Pebbles from The Flintstones. She still had most of her baby teeth, besides her two front teeth, which had grown in. However, when she smiled widely, you could see a small gap of pink gum on the left side of her bottom row.

"Smile," she directed as the roller coaster slammed to a stop. Lorraine leaned up next to me, while Lacy and Charlotte put their arms around each other in the row in front of us.

At the click of her camera, we all quickly unbuckled and stumbled out dizzily, trying to avoid being scolded by the workers who hastened the riders out in order to keep the line moving fast enough to appease the impatient.

The day passed quickly without incident, and after stuffing ourselves with a late dinner at a Chinese restaurant, the girls and I arrived back home with aching feet, sunburnt cheeks, and a whole lot of pictures.

We all congregated back to my room, and I had, in true slumber-party fashion, smeared a home-remedy, mossy colored face mask on all of our faces. After, I'd connected my camera to the computer, which hooked up to the TV hung on my bedroom wall, and set up a slideshow of all the pictures. The night breeze blew in softly from my open french doors as we lounged in the concave seating area in the back of my bedroom.

Presently, I set the laptop down on the coffee table and pulled Kira into my lap in it's place. The first shot that appeared on the screen was of me driving. I was smiling, but stared away from the camera, presumably out the windshield as the sun glared on my sunglasses. The next shot was of Lorraine, Charlotte, and Kira in the back seat. Kira had her hand over her mouth, mid-giggle, while Lorraine was giving a commercial wink, her sunglasses tipped down on her nose, and Charlotte blew a kiss to the lens.

"Cute, Lorraine," Lacy sassed, reclined with her legs thrown over the arm of the white chair she occupied.

As if on cue, the next shot was of Lacy, her lip curled up while her hand mused her hair in a posed, but nevertheless, not entirely flattering photo.

"Not as cute as that," Lorraine laughed.

Next was a candid shot of Kira on Charlotte's shoulders. Kira was bend sideways, leaned down to kiss me on the nose, and my face was scrunched slightly, eyes closed, but the corner of my lips lifted in a close-mouthed grin. Charlotte's gaze was on us in the photo, smiling, mouth open as if she were about to speak.

"AW! Definitely not as cute as _that_," Lacy said.

"Yeah, I want a copy!" Charlotte agreed.

After going through more than a hundred shots and cleaning the gunky mask off our faces, we argued between which movie to watch, but ultimately decided on a Disney Princess marathon so Kira could watch with us.

After Tangled, Mulan, Beauty and the Beast, and half of The Little Mermaid all of the girls were nodding off where they sat, and I announced bedtime. The girls easily agreed and stood sleepily while I carried Kira, who had been knocked out since the Be Our Guest number in Beauty and the Beast, to her room.

Braxton snored softly in his bed on the other end of the bedside table as I laid Kira down, swiftly changing her into a nightshirt, which was actually a t-shirt of Emmett's that he'd given her, claiming that it had the power to keep nightmares away. I managed to not jostle her too much, and I'd almost been successful in not waking her when, as I lifted the covers over her, she whimpered softly.

"Bella?"

"Mmhmm. It's bedtime, Sleeping Beauty."

"Kay... love you," she mumbled, then thrust both her arms in the air, silently asking for a hug. I giggled, and hugged her tightly, pressing a kiss into her forehead.

"Night, Kir."

I checked in with the girls before heading back to my room. Lorraine was already passed out on the single bed, while Charlotte had crawled into the bottom bunk, and Lacy had her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth, leaning on the doorframe of their private bathroom.

"I had fun with you guys today," I giggled, my head half in the doorway, my hand paused on the knob. The conscious girls agreed the same, and wished me a good nights sleep as I pulled their door shut behind me.

I got myself ready for bed swiftly, and after changing into an oversized army green t-shirt that fell off one shoulder, scrubbing my face, brushing my teeth, and dragging my hair up into a messy bun, I dove into my bed, successfully pushing the decorative pillows to the floor, and slid under the blankets.

I fell asleep quickly, and there seemed to be no time between my loss of consciousness and the time that I woke to heavy footsteps pounding across my floor.

_ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod._

The mantra didn't help me whatsoever, and I racked my brain for the closest makeshift weapon.

_Lamp?_

"Bella?" the familiar voice whispered quietly in the darkness.

I flipped expeditiously into a seated position. The sheets pooled around my waist. "Edward?"

"You're awake." His form was obscured by the blackness of my room, but I could hear the smile in his voice.

"You scared the ever-loving crap out of me, Edward Cullen," I accused, but I found myself grinning in his presence.

"You want me to go?" he teased, retreating slightly.

"Get over here," I jerked my head in my direction, patting the mattress.

"Just.. don't get handsy. I'm not wearing pants." I added.

He snorted a laugh, and I shushed him immediately.

"Yeah, I guess we wouldn't want to wake your family up. Unknown boy in your room while you're without pants is a little susp-" I put a finger on his lips as he sat down on the edge of my bed.

I heard footsteps in the hall. "_Shiiiiiiiit_. Uh... You, need to make yourself not be here right now," I pushed him off the mattress, meaning to send him toward the window, but he fell, unsuspecting onto the floor, just as my door opened. My eyes were saucers as I watched him promptly roll underneath my bed.

"Bella? I heard a noise. Are you alright?" I turned my head towards my mothers voice, hoping I didn't look as strung out as I felt in that moment.

"Uh, yeah. I heard it too. I think a seagull flew into the window or something," the fib rolled easily off my tongue and I would've been impressed with myself, were I not lying to my mother.

She nodded, and walked towards the bed, coming to sit on the side where I slept. The same side where Edward hid just under the mattress. She sat and grabbed one of my hands, oblivious.

"Thanks for taking the girls out today."

"Oh- it's no problem. I had a good time with them."

She hummed, and kissed my forehead softly, "I'm glad.. Well, I've finally caught a day off tomorrow. So, how do banana pancakes sound?"

"Great, mom," I nodded.

She smiled and squeezed my hand once before standing, "Sleep tight, sweetheart."

"G'night, mom."

I didn't breathe until she pressed my door closed. A minute later, when the night was quiet again, I flipped over the edge of the mattress, stretching my torso, and lifted the bed skirt.

He spoke before I could, "wanna go somewhere with me?"

I nodded thoughtlessly and a few minutes later we were scaling down the side of my house.

"I missed you today, you know," he'd broken the easy silence after we'd traveled a few yards.

"Yeah?" I looked up at him.

"Yeah," he echoed, his hand trailing down my wrist before intertwining with my fingers. My heart clenched in my chest.

"I missed you, too," I told him quietly.

We carried easy conversation from there, talking about how each of our days went while our feet pressed into the sand, our journey disappearing behind us, swallowed by the crashing waves.

Our words began to fade too, and we were silent for a minute.

"Tell me about your dad?" I asked.

"If you'll tell me about yours." I nodded. Fair enough. This was the one topic we'd yet to go into much detail about. They seemed more tender, just like the wet sand below our feet.

"My dad.. he was actually Carlisle's brother," he started, and I looked up to him, eyes widened.

"But wouldn't take make you and Rose-" he shook his head.

"No, Carlisle was adopted... I... It's a long story."

"Try me," I urged, squeezing his hand.

He sighed, and brought our hands up to his mouth, kissing my knuckles softly. "I was Esme and Masen, my dad's, miracle baby. They didn't think they could get pregnant because they had been trying since they married- Mom was 23 then." I did the math in my head, then nodded, realizing that they must've tried for three years.

"So they went to adopt, and their names went down into some file.." he paused, looking to me. "I'm still kind of shaky on my understanding of the whole adoption process, but I guess you really don't need me to explain it to you anyway," I smiled and shook my head, and he continued.

"Anyway, surprise, Esme got pregnant with me. Around eight months in this girl contacted them. She had seen them as an option in her search for someone to adopt her baby- Alice. Esme says they just couldn't turn her down, so they had me, with plans already for me to have a baby sister. A few months after, Alice was born. Before Masen could even get there... To the hospital. Well, you know. That's where Carlisle came in... To help raise Alice and I. He was two years younger than Masen. They had been close growing up; Carlisle was adopted when he was five. But they grew apart after Masen left for college at 18, because their dad died of colon cancer and Masen... Being around the house, his mother- it hurt too much, ya know? Brought back too many memories. So, Carlisle was this 16 year old kid, taking care of his heartbroken mother... The day after he left for college, their mother committed suicide. He just felt so abandoned. Rarely saw his brother, mother took her own life.." he trailed.

"Carlisle saw Masen at their mother's funeral and didn't see him again till he was in a casket," his voice cracked minutely, and I pulled his hand up, under my chin, hugging it to my chest.

"And he never met Esme till.."

"Not once."

"So they basically bonded over a terrible situation." He nodded.

"Neither of them had anyone. Both of them were only children, and Esme lost her parents when she was young. She was raised mostly by her great aunt, but she passed away just after she married Masen."

"How did they meet?"

"College. Nothing too romantic... I think Mom said it was at a frat party," he chuckled.

"She tell you what he was like?"

"Hm.. Depressed, when she first met him. Said he seemed lost and she wanted to be the one to help him find his way. He wasn't a big talker much, but he wrote songs. Says that's really the only way she could find out anything from him- when he played guitar. She had to ask and ask and ask questions, but once she got to know him, I guess that was it. She says that I remind her of him a lot. That he was sarcastic and loving... She says that I got the best of him, instead of what made it hard for him to express his feelings.." his words faded out, and we walked silently again, our fingers brushing against each other saying what we didn't speak aloud.

"So... I guess that's my back story," he said, his gaze on me expectantly. I nodded, exhaling in a big gust before smiling ironically.

"My biological dad was a spineless flake named Alistair," I began, and Edward looked at me, eyebrows raised, letting me know I had his attention without words.

"My mom met him on one of her European book tours- you know how I told you she write those self-help books?" he nodded.

"Well, she met him, and he was this mysterious, 'tall, dark, and handsome' type-b kinda guy. Always had a camera in his hands, and, here's the kicker- a scottish accent. Renee fell hard. One thing led to another- boom. Me and Emmett," I sighed, pausing to gather my thoughts.

"He agreed to move back to Arizona with her, but they didn't marry. He said he 'didn't believe' in marriage, which is a load of bull. Anyway, the prick didn't know how to use a condom, and there was Lacy and Lorraine. When she told him she was pregnant again, he panicked. The next day all his stuff is gone, minus the things she'd purchased for him, and he'd left a note that said 'I'm sorry.' A note. Well, hold on, a note and _four freaking children_. She was so... done, at that point, she just cut the tubes. No more unplanned pregnancies. Course, she wasn't done having kids, though," I smiled, thinking of my five un-biological siblings.

"So, we fostered for a bit. Then came Braxton at seven years old, and he just fit so well in the family... Our family just kept on growing. After that, we adopted Kir at five, Noah as a baby, and the twins shortly after birth."

"How the hell did she manage just the four of you guys when your- Alistair.. left?"

"She didn't do it completely alone. Her sister Lizzie and my uncle Charlie lived with us till I was eight."

"Where do they live now?"

I shrugged, "Some little town up in Washington."

"Hey, look." He directed my attention to a metal swing set further up the beach, on the edge of high grasses sprouting out of the sand.

I grinned and pulled him in tow, bee-lining for the swings. The sand grew dryer as we headed up the beach, causing it to fly up at our calves, the heaviness of our conversation left by the water. I dropped his hand when we were a few feet away and skipped towards it, throwing myself gleefully into the plastic seat, the metal chain-links holding it up rattling as I did.

He watched amusedly as I pumped my legs, rhythmically sending myself back and forth like a pendulum. I giggled as I lost a sandal kicking my feet out in front of me. I watched as it flew briefly before being dragged back to the ground by gravity.

"I got it," Edward chuckled as I dragged my heels in the sand, slowing the swing to a steady rock.

He walked back, my left shoe in hand, and and crouched, silently lifting my foot and slipping the sandal back into place before setting my foot back in the sand. He rose again and leaned into the swing, his hands grasping at the chains on either side of me.

"I feel like I've known you forever, but it's just been a few days..." he muttered. The wind ruffled my hair softly while the waves rolled on the beach.

"You know I've hardly told anyone the stuff I told you tonight?"

I nodded, "Same... I.. you make me feel like I can _breathe_."

I brought my hand up from my lap, brushing the skin along his jaw. The air around us crackled. As my thumb skimmed his chin, his face lowered, pulled towards mine by something even more inescapable than gravity. My head tilted back of it's own accord. Just a few millimeters and his lips could brush mine. His shallow breath fanned out on my skin, mingling mint and cinnamon with the salt in the air. Wings beat against my stomach, like my heart in my chest. I longed to be closer, desperate for too many somethings I didn't understand.

His nose bumped mine, and my fingers twitched on his jaw. "You're getting kind of scruffy," I told him in a whisper, my mind clouded and hardly processing my thoughts.

He breathed a laugh, "Shut up."

And then his mouth was on mine, soft, testing, my bottom lip wreathed by both of his. All at once, my every nerve clenched and then he was pulling back, too far from me I decided, and I pulled him closer, bringing his lips back to mine, my hand still resting on his cheek, but not nearly close enough. I stood from the swing, leaving it to bump the backs of my knees, and wrapped my arms around his neck, gasping around his mouth at the length of him pressed against me. The kiss took on a different tone then, both of us spurred by the desire for closeness. His hands wandered down my spine, to the jean covered curve of flesh between my back and thighs, and with the same idea in mind, he lifted me as I used the leverage of my arms on his shoulders to wrap my legs around his torso, clamping around him, while my hands grasped at his hair.

His teeth nipped at my lips, then he rightly soothed the now tender flesh, sucking gently. I reciprocated, giggling into his mouth with his lip caught gingerly between my teeth. With baritone chuckles he pulled back, dropping his forehead to the curve of my neck. I unraveled my legs then, his hold still on me, and he slid me slowly down, his gaze capturing mine where I'd decided to extricate him.

"I should get you back," he spoke softly. I pouted my lips playfully, my hands locked around his waist as his were around mine.

He grinned, lifting one hand, brushing my jutted lower lip with his thumb lightly.

"How am I ever supposed to leave that face?"

**Y'all, I'm gonna fess up right here: my kissing experience is near zero.  
****If that right there doesn't get reviews, I don't have a clue what will. **


	13. He Snuck In

**Sorry for the delay guys. I've been on vacation and I've had pretty limited computer access.  
On another note; please give warm welcome to this story's new beta- Simply Abbey!  
She's fabulous, and has made this chapter so much better than it initially was. We're lucky to have her. **

**Bel****la**

Our walk back was long, filled with slow-shared kisses that stopped us in our tracks, effectively prolonging the trip. Not that we minded. We had hardly enjoyed being out of each others company before the kiss on the swing set. Needless to say, we weren't in any hurry.

The air was almost chilly for late June, and when the wind picked up around us goosebumps rose on my flesh. Edward was quick to shrug off his light hoody, helping me slide my arms into sleeves that much extended beyond the ends of my fingertips. I giggled and pulled the extra material back by my elbows, grasping the cuff of each sleeve in my hands before settling back under Edward's arm, my own wrapped around his back and torso.

The conversation was notably lighter as well, being that it was always interrupted by chaste kisses that quickly took a right turn for not-so-chaste. My open balcony door was an unwelcome sight, seemingly marking the end of our journey.

Goodbyes were said and re-said, each ending and beginning with his lips on mine.

I glanced surreptitiously between my bedroom one story up and Edward before speaking, "Come up with me?"

I pushed through the doors backwards, Edward's mouth again on mine. I giggled into the kiss when my back met the posterior of a chair and broke it, pushing his chest slightly and moving to shut the doors.

In actuality the click of the deadbolt was faint, but my ears, now acclimated to the soft sounds of night, found it raucous and I cringed, thoughts of my mother waking in the next room filling my head. I turned to Edward, expecting to find his shoulders tense with that same worry, but instead, with elbows rested on the same upholstery that had broken our kiss, he appeared tranquil. His eyes shone with the luminescence of the moon. He seemed almost ethereal, standing there, watching me.

"What?" I questioned self-consciously, my arms crossing on instinct.

He grinned, "Nothing, beautiful."

I wondered briefly when I'd become the type of girl to basically swoon on command, but the answer was too obvious to ponder for long. _The minute I met Edward._

I passed him with my feet padding quietly and my cheeks warm. "I'm gonna change." I spoke the words in a whisper.

He followed behind me into the main area of the bedroom, and politely averted his eyes when I'd started to work the buttons of the white denim shorts I'd donned before we left.

After a quick exchange with a pair of soft cotton polk-a-dot sleep shorts that mimicked boxers with three little purple buttons down the front, I turned back to Edward. He leaned against the wall, his lips quirked in playful smirk with a hand placed over his eyes. He spread his pointer and middle finger an inch apart and peeked through them, then dropped his palm when he saw that I was decent. I stared at him amusedly, my lower lip caught between my teeth, then strode towards him, and pressed my lips to his. His head hit the wall behind it in surprise.

"You're not sleeping in my bed with jeans on," I told him when I pulled back.

"But I-"

"Unless you're commando or wearing briefs, I don't see your dilemma," I continue and slipped under the covers, holding them up for him and patting the mattress welcomingly.

He rolled his eyes and dropped the jeans, leaving him in blue plaid boxes and his worn gray t-shirt, then slid into the sheets after me.

"Is this what you normally sleep in?" I asked him, sliding over into the crook of his arm.

"I don't usually wear a shirt," he admitted.

I grinned at him cheekily and grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling it up slightly. He chuckled and helped me bring it up over his head before chucking it onto the floor.

"Better?" I teased, resting my hand on his now bare abdomen. He shivered.

"I would be, if your hands weren't so damn icy," he retorted.

"Good thing I have you to warm them up then, huh?"

Our hushed banter continued for a few minutes until his hand rubbing across my back soothed me into a fast slumber.

The same hand that had put me to sleep woke me gently as the sun streamed in through my sheer curtains. I groaned softly, my senses groggily adjusting to consciousness. I lifted my eyes, heavy with sleep, up to meet green like glittering grasses just after daybreak, damp and adorned with morning dew. He grinned.

"Mornin' darlin'." _Sweet Jesus._

I blinked. "G'morning."

"I didn't notice it before, but baby, you talk in your sleep." The green danced.

I rolled away from him, stretching from my arms above my head and all the way down to my pointed toes. "And what secrets did my subconscious reveal this time?"

"Just that you dream about me...a lot," he tagged on.

My mouth popped open while my cheeks turned rosy. "I do not!" I argued, turning my head to look at him.

"You do," he refuted simply, eyes alight with a mischievous glow.

"Well...you snore like a hacksaw so," I defended myself poorly, turning my head away and into my arm, which was still thrown above my head from my earlier stretching.

He didn't accept my retreat and rolled himself over and poised over top of me, his knees straddling my hips, "Aw, baby, I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"Well, you did. Seriously, the snoring is a problem, you gotta get that fixed," I deadpanned.

He grinned, and I lifted my arm up, grasping the back of his head, and pulling his lips to mine—

"Bella, momma wants..." her little voice trailed off as I pushed Edward off me.

"Kira! Come in, come in!" I urged, sitting up as she pressed the door shut behind her.

She walked to me slowly, "Momma wanted me to tell you that breakfast was ready." As she reached me I grasped her under her arms, pulling her up and into my lap.

"And I am so glad she sent _you_," I told her.

She giggled, then turned serious, and spoke softly with her hands cupped around my ear, "Edward wasn't hurting you, right?"

I scoffed, "No! Of course not, sweetheart! God..."

She grinned and said, "Good," then leaned around me, addressing Edward himself this time. "Morning Eddie!"

Kira was the only girl on the planet that could get a smile out of Edward after calling him 'Eddie.'

"Mornin' Kir," he returned fondly.

"So, babydoll. Edward and I had a secret sleepover last night, okay? So I need you to not tell anybody you saw him this morning," I pleaded.

"Oh." Her face turned thoughtful for a moment before she agreed happily, "Okay."

"You're number one, kid," I said as I lifted her off my lap. As her feet touched the ground I planted a loud, smacking kiss on her cheek. Her returning giggle widened my smile.

"Now, go down for breakfast. I'll be there in a minute. Just remember: don't tell anyone," I cautioned as she reached the door.

"Tell anyone what?" she asked with a conspiratorial grin before she skipped out into the hallway. _God, I love that kid._

"Shit, can I just steal her?" Edward asked from behind me. I grinned, turning at the waist and pressing a hand to his chest as I kissed his lips once.

"Definitely not."

**Review? **  
**Muah ;***


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